If you can slice a melon or make a right-hand turn, you can be a breakthrough innovator.

The title of this book, Cause a Disturbance, says it all, and it most assuredly will cause a disturbance in the way you think about business: your business.

Everyone knows—and everyone talks about—how important innovation is in the competitive battle to find, delight, and keep customers, yet far too few achieve it. As Tencer and Cardoso explain, “There’s a big difference between an occasional spark of innovation and an eternal flame.” But the reality is different; most firms struggle to consistently innovate. All that can change. Kick-start your business with attitude. Cause a disturbance!

Whether your business is in transition or simply looking for an innovative spark, give it a lift with Cause a Disturbance. Within these pages you will learn how innovation can change your business in simple steps through The 90% Rule®: a straightforward philosophy that drives you to constantly ask “What’s the next 10%? What’s the next product, service, or process improvement that will create a continuously engaged customer base and strengthen my brand?”

Cause a disturbance in the way you think about innovation as you open your mind to the possibilities—and simplicity—of being innovative every day!

Product Description

Review

"Ken Tencer and John Paulo Cardoso write with a unique understanding of both entrepreneurial practicality and sustainable creativity in a business world moving at speeds almost impossible to imagine even five years ago. They understand what creates deep and long-term value in innovative enterprise and are able to communicate it with unpretentious clarity. A very useful read."

Timothy Askew, CEO & Founder, Corporate Rain International

"…no one makes it easier than Tencer and Cardoso. By condensing their simple, commonsense formula into this short, compelling and highly readable book, they have put innovation in the hands of any business person who truly wants to succeed."

Philip Kirby, President, OTI International and author of Thoughtware: Change the Thinking and the Organization Will Change Itself and The Future, You Can't Get There From Here

"In an environment where doing "more with less" is a business survival imperative, we need innovation more than ever. This book's 90% Rule states that there is never a shortage of opportunities and that you already have 90% of what you need to be successful. If you buy a copy of Cause a Disturbance, you'll get the remaining 10%!"

Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D., Author of The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help - or Hurt - How You Lead

About the Author

Ken Tencer is a branding and innovation thought leader who helps organizations master better futures. He is co-developer of The 90% Rule®, a success-tested innovation process that enables businesses of all sizes to identify new market and strategic opportunities and map out relevant, high-potential growth opportunities.

Ken is a successful entrepreneur and business developer who has built international-scale companies spanning manufacturing, product development, distribution, and professional services. As CEO of Spyder Works, Ken helps companies with both branding and innovation strategy.

Today The 90% Rule book is being avidly read by business leaders in the US, Canada, and Europe. Business journalists with leading publications and networks including The Globe & Mail, The Financial Times, CNBC, and Forbes have recognized the timeliness and power of this important work.

Ken holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Carleton University and a Master of Science in international management from Boston University from their campus in Brussels, Belgium. He also received a joint certificate from the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, for the small- and medium-sized enterprises board effectiveness program. He has sat on a number of for-profit and not-for-profit boards and served as a member of the advisory board for Canada’s Centre for Business Innovation.

John Paulo Cardoso is chief creative officer of Spyder Works Inc. and a world-class creative director who believes that true design brings meaning to the mass of unrelated needs, wants, ideas, and perceptions. John is responsible for ensuring that creativity—in all its forms, through all the firm’s work—manifests itself in business results. With over twenty years in design, he has brought his unconventional thinking to clients in many industries, from emerging businesses to multinational corporations.

John founded Spyder Desktop Studio in 1992 to support the development of leading international brands such as Agfa, Estée Lauder, and Revlon. In 2003 he formed Spyder Works Inc. with Ken, transforming the firm from a leading provider of creative design to a comprehensive provider of business and marketing strategy, integrated design, and communications.

At Spyder Works John leads the creative team with the innovative branding model Eight Steps to Brand Re(Invention)™. He is also the co-developer of the firm’s model for integrated business and design thinking, Building Business by Design®.

John has an honors BA in fine art history from the University of Toronto and holds a certificate of design from the internationally acclaimed Art Centre in Toronto.

Most helpful customer reviews

Unlike the dozens of books that overcomplicate the concept of innovation, Cause a Disturbance highlights the pure simplicity of it. The book illustrates the growth opportunities that a business can gain from asking two simple questions - and acting on the answers. What do your customers want? How can you give it to them? Answer those questions, by actually listening to your customers, and YOU CAN BE AN INNOVATOR!

The unique perspective on innovation presented throughout the book is presented so simply anyone can do it! An excellent book. And excellent read.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)

Typical airport business book -- nothing new or ground breaking just a rehash of other conceptsJuly 10 2014

By
L. C Glover
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Kindle Edition

"Cause a Disturbance" is a typical business light book that you will find in airport bookshops. The book is supposed to be give you some great new insight or abilities --> think of it as Tony Robbins seminar( tries to be motivational, has some facts in it and restates the mostly obvious things about business). If you have gotten value out of a Tony Robbins seminar in the past and have no knowledge of the lean business movement, then you might want to pick up this book.

If not, here are the main points:1) Focus on evolving your product instead of revolutionizing it. This is the "90% rule" -- you have 90% of a new product already in your current products.

2) Action is more important than planning. This a simplified definition of using an emergent business strategy; statistically, business that just try a bunch of things quickly and measure to see if they are successful tend to have a small advantage over companies that do a lot of research and planning for product roadmaps. Fail quickly and iterate.

3) Aim high as you almost never hit your goals; if your original goal is beyond what you really need to be successful, then you generally end up being successful.

4) Be a customer focused business instead of a product focused business; work with your customers to improve your product and do it in rapid iteration cycle. You should avoid big-bang product deliveries which have a lot of features, rather work with your customers to determine what few critical features the users need and will use. If the majority of users will not like it / use it, then do not spend time and resources on it.

5) Thinking positively is more productive than not.

If you understand these 5 points, I have just saved you the price of the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Adding it to my LibraryApril 18 2014

By
Bob S
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Kindle Edition

The best addition to my business library that I have made in a long time. Its exploration of business growth through shifting the focus from product-centric to customer-centric is common sense and eye opening at the same time. We need to think more like a customer and less like the manufacturer. The book explains that by looking at your company through the customer's eyes you not only learn what they wan but also gain an understanding of what they might need in the future. This is a path of innovation. "And innovation - the continuous improvement or introduction of new products and services - is what keeps" your relationship with your customers fresh.

The authors get it and break it down so we can get it too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

This book is one part philosophy, one part inspiration, one part methodology.April 2 2014

By
Jeff C
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Kindle Edition

This book is one part philosophy, one part inspiration, one part methodology. It’s an innovative way of showing what innovation is all about. The stories and ideas were inspiring, the philosophy of simplification refreshing and the step-by-step process a great ‘how to’ roadmap.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Paradigm Shifting Book!Aug. 5 2014

By
Wade Danielson
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback
Verified Purchase

We had Ken on our podcast, The Entrepreneurs Library, to give a full run down of Cause A Disturbance. He is a forward thinking man and the book is phenomenal! If you want to get a review from the author himself check out Episode 3.

You will want to pick it up immediately!!

Very thoughtful ....and thought-provokingApril 21 2014

By
Robert Ross-Fichtner
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Kindle Edition

A very thought-provoking read. Ken and John make you sit back and take stock of what you are doing, not doing and should be doing. I really do like the concept of evolution versus revolution. I think that's the most relevant for most of our businesses and is often the low hanging fruit. Great work guys.